Proximity discovery system and method

ABSTRACT

A proximity discovery system enabling a person to quickly and efficiently discover colleagues within their proximity without visual contact. The system comprises a mobile computing device including an antenna and transceiver for exchanging messages with a plurality of other mobile devices nearby the user device, a user detection module for detecting the messages from the other mobile devices, a proximity detector for estimating a distance between the user device and each of the mobile devices, a connection module for sharing biographic and professional information with the plurality of mobile devices based on one of a plurality of connection levels.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/651,869, filed Jul. 17, 2017, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/363,751,entitled “Mobile Application for Identifying and Processing InformationConcerning Persons in Proximity,” filed Jul. 18, 2016; and U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/500,061, entitled “MobileApplication Utilizing Social Profile Photo Lookup in Conjunction withBusiness Card Scan,” filed May 2, 2017, which applications areincorporated in their entirety here by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a system and method for enabling users tovirtually discover other people in the near proximity, virtually connectwith those people, and automatically exchange professional and/orpersonal information with those people before actually meeting thoseother people and without manually exchanging information with thosepeople.

BACKGROUND

People frequently attend professional conferences for the purpose ofnetworking which may include meeting with known colleagues as well asmaking new contacts. When meeting new contacts, it is customary toexchange business cards and other information, for example. Theseprofessional conferences may, however, be attended by thousands ofpeople and the event spread out across a large conference hall, ormultiple conference halls. It becomes difficult to meet knowncolleagues, and even more challenging to identify new people ofinterest, because the probability of encountering these people goes downas the size of the event increases. It is quite possible to be standingmeters away from a colleague and be completely unaware of thecolleague's presence because we rely so heavily on visional contact tomake contact with colleague. While it is possible to use email, forexample, to pre-arrange a time and place to meet a colleague, thissolution does not scale well for a number of reasons. First, eachmeeting must be arranged individually, which becomes very cumbersome ifone intends to meet a large number of people. Second, any pre-arrangemeeting may turn out to actually conflict with presentations beingoffered at the professional conference. Third, a person may not evenknow whether or not a colleague with which they wish to meet is evenattending the professional conference. For the foregoing reasons thereis, therefore, a need for a system that enables people to effectively“discover”, i.e., “detect”, when colleagues are present at aprofessional gathering or other large event without relying on visualcontact or email, enables people to make new connections with people ofinterest, and automatically exchanges professional information betweenthose people with little or no manual data entry.

SUMMARY

The invention in some embodiments features a system and method forenabling users to quickly and efficiently discover friends andcolleagues in crowded environments even when those people are notreadily visible do to crowd size, obstacles, or distance. The system inone embodiment is a proximity discovery system comprising a user deviceand server. The user device comprises: an antenna and transceiver forexchanging messages with a plurality of mobile devices withinapproximately 100 meters of the user device, a user detection module fordetecting discovery messages from the other mobile devices, a proximitydetector for detecting the presence of people in the near vicinityand/or estimating a range or a distance between the user device and eachof the mobile devices, a connection module for sharing biographic andprofessional information with the plurality of mobile devices based onone of a plurality of connection levels. At a first level, the usersexchange a thumbnail portrait and/or a name, while at a second levelthey exchange more detailed professional data and contact dataincluding, for example, social media user info and email addresses. Thepeople in proximity of the user may be presented in the form of aproximity graphic comprising a name and image for each person associatedwith one of the plurality of mobile devices within approximately 100meters of the user device, and indicia indicating the approximatedistance from the user device to each of the plurality of mobiledevices. In the preferred embodiment, the proximity discovery systemuses the BLUETOOTH™ protocol to exchange messages but other protocolsincluding WIFI and GPS (global positioning satellite) protocols may alsobe employed to locate and identify people of interest in proximity of auser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for the virtual discovery of people inthe proximity of a user, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a proximity graphic showingother people using a proximity discovery system in the vicinity of theuser, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is flowchart of a method for automatically exchanging informationwith people in the proximity of a user using OCR, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a representative screen shot illustrating a user's own profilepage, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a representative screen shot illustrating people with whichthe user has recently connected, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a representative screen shot illustrating contact informationfor a person with which the user has connected, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a representative screen shot illustrating an interface forinitiating direct contact with other people via the proximity discoverysystem, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating a first group ofpeople and a second group of people, in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is diagrammatic screen shot illustrating a page enabling a userto integrate social media data into a profile for a contact on theproximity discovery system, in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a system configured to enablethe virtual discovery of people in the proximity of a user, andautomatic exchange of information with people in the proximity of auser, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of presently-preferred embodimentsof the invention and is not intended to represent the only forms inwhich the present invention may be constructed or utilized. Thedescription sets forth the functions and the sequence of steps forconstructing and operating the invention in connection with theillustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the sameor equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by differentembodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spiritand scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for the virtual discovery of people inthe proximity of a user using a mobile phone or other mobile computingdevice. The mobile phone is configured with a BLUETOOTH™ protocol whichenables the mobile phone to exchange messages and other data with otherdevices that are in proximity of the mobile phone. These messages areconfigured to broadcast a notification of the presence of the user toother users.

The process begins with the user first populating 100 the proximitydiscovery software with his or her profile with biographic and/orprofessional information. This may include, but is not limited to,entering the user's name, profession or title, employer name or otherprofessional affiliation, and a digital photo of the user. Theinformation shared is comparable to the professional informationtypically listed on a business card, without the need to manually enterit in a contact list. Using their mobile phone or other computingdevice, the user effectively broadcasts or otherwise transmits 110 thisprofile information using the BLUETOOTH™ message. The messagetransmitting this profile information, which enables other people todiscover the presence of the user, is referred to herein as a discoverymessage. At the same time, the mobile phone is continually monitoring120 for discovery messages transmitted by other users in proximity tothe user.

If the user's mobile phone detects discovery messages from other users,i.e., collocated users, in the immediate area, decision block 130 isanswered in the affirmative. Thereafter, the user's mobile phone or aremote server, for example, determines 140 the proximity andrelationship of the collocated users in proximity of the user. Proximitymay be generated 150 and reported qualitatively in terms of the (a)“nearness” of the other user, or quantitatively in terms of the (b) amap with a precise distance away and a bearing indicating the headingpointing to the collocated user, (c) precise global positioningsatellite (GPS) coordinates of the collocated user, or (d) a combinationthereof. In the preferred embodiment, the proximity of collocated usersis illustrated graphically using an interface similar to thediagrammatic screen shot shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the user 200 isshown together with a plurality of collocated users 210-214. In someembodiments, the distance between the user and every collocated user isillustrated by one of three coarse metrics, namely, “close”, “near”, and“far”. The metric therefore helps the user to gauge where to look whenattempting to find the other users. In other embodiments, a geo-locationdiagram (map) may displayed to indicate where two users first becameconnected. The map may be a street map with general intersections andgeneral city location.

In some embodiments, the distance to collocated users is dynamicallyupdated by means of a real-time feed generated by the user's mobilephone and the collocated users sorted based on proximity, preferablywith closest users shown at the left and farthest users shown at theright. In the preferred embodiment, the distance to a collocated user isestimated based upon the strength of the BLUETOOTH™ signal detected fromthe other user. A strong signal strength suggests close proximity whilea weak signal strength indicates a large separation distances. Theinterface may further include a “recent encounters” feed that tracks theuser's proximity to other users although not in real-time. This tracksthe user's history so the user can still see the thumbnail image for theother users and subsequently connect with those users at a later date ifthe user failed to connect with those people at the first oportunity.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the user mobile device may also be configuredto generate 150 “alerts” to the user when a predetermined condition issatisfied. For example, an alert may be configured to notify the userwhen (a) a specific person has been detected in proximity to the user,(b) when a person of a specific profession has been detected inproximity to the user, or (c) when a person affiliated with a specificemployer or entity has been detected in proximity to the user. The alertmay take the form of a visual message or audible tone generatedimmediately after detection of the person of interest.

Once the presence of other users has been detected and presented to theuser by way of the interface in FIG. 2, a user may then select one ormore collocated users with which to “connect”. If the user, “clicks” ona collocated user in FIG. 2, for example, decision block 160 in FIG. 1is answered in the affirmative and the user's complete profile andsocial media account information automatically transmitted to thecollocated user. If the user has included a FACEBOOK™ or LINKEDIN™account in their personal profile, for example, that information istransmitted 170 to the other user to facility further communicationbetween the users. Thereafter, the users may communicate one-to-one bymeans of instant messages or direct messages using the FACEBOOK™ orLINKEDIN™ platforms, or by means of an instant messaging functionalityembedded in the proximity discovery software app itself. Users may, forexample, then make arrangements to meet face-to-face, schedule meetings,or even conduct business. In the case of a meeting, the user's mobilephone may be configured to extract the scheduling information from theinstant message exchange and automatically add the meeting to the user'scalendar along with a reminder just before the meeting is to occur.

In addition to the exchange of social media info, the user's mobilephone is preferably configured to generate 180 a new contact for thecollocated user in the user's list of contacts. Thereafter, the user'smobile phone is configured to generate 190 an “activity stream”illustrating each collocated user that has been seen, as well as thetime and day and location each of those collocated users was seen.

Illustrated in FIG. 3 is flowchart of a method for automaticallyexchanging information with people in the proximity of a user. Inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention, the proximitydetection software is also configured with optical character recognition(OCR) functionality that enables users to easily add contact informationto their mobile phones, for example, without manual data entry. In oneembodiment, a user may use the present invention to select 300 a “scancard” function. When activated, the user is prompted to acquire 310 adigital photograph of another person's business card using their mobilephone's built-in camera, for example. The photo is then processed 320using OCR to extract information about the name, business, and contactinfo of the person associated with the business card. The name of theperson in particular may be identified 330 from the extract info and thename used to query 340 one or more social media sites for additionalcontact information as well as relevant biographical information and oneor more photographs of the person. The additional information retrieved350 from the social media websites may then be automatically compiled360 to form a profile in a contact list maintained by the proximitydiscovery system, the profile of the new contact including a photoretrieved from their social media page or account. Thereafter, the usersmay communicate 370 directly using a messaging tool in the proximitydiscovery system or any one of the social media platforms.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating a user's own profilepage, which includes a field 420 to upload a picture, a field 422 toenter one's user name, a field 424 to enter the user's current city ofresidence, a field 426 to enter the user's occupation along withemployer and title, and a field 428 to enter a short statement about theuser. The profile page further includes a search field 410 forperforming a keyword search of the page and or the proximity discoverapp, a field 430 indicating the last time the profile was seen, and thename, nickname or handle 440 to be seen by other users.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating collocated people withwhich the user has recently connected. The recent connections are listedin a column 510 titled “recent activity” followed by the name 520 ofeach person with which the user has connected, the date and time 530 ofthe connection, and a picture 540 provided by the other user orextracted from the person's social media account, for example.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating contact informationfor a collocated person with which the user has connected, whichincludes a picture of the contact 620, the name of the contact 622, thecontact's profile information 624 including social media information anda professional description, a notation 626 indicating how the two knoweach other or became connected, and an indication 630 of the date andtime this other user was seen or otherwise connected with. The interfacefurther includes a search field 410 for conducting keyword searches ofthe app, and a link 640 with which to initiate contact with this otheruser, i.e., the collocated user.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating an interface forinitiating direct contact with a collocated person via the proximitydiscovery system. To initiate contact, the user need only call up theinterface listing the contacts and click on the person's picture orname, for example, corresponding to the particular social media account.In the present case, for example, the user can connect with the contactvia LINKEDIN™ by clinking on the person's name 710 or picture 712.Similarly, the user can connect with the contact via FACEBOOK™ byclinking on the person's name 720 or image 722. In either case, aninstant messenger application is launched and the user provided aninterface for exchanging instant messages or direct messages.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic screen shot illustrating a first group ofpeople and a second group of people, in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present invention. The first group of people 812,organized under a first heading 810, includes thumbnail photos andassociated names of a plurality of “recent encounters” along withhyperlinks to their contact information. Recent encounters are otherusers of the proximity detection system than have come within the rangeof the BLUETOOTH antenna and been detected in the proximity of the userwithin a predetermined period of time. That is, this first group ofpeople 812 is a history of collocated users, which is compiled andmaintained by the proximity discovery system. The list of recentencounters enables a user to subsequently see and contact other userslong after they were first detected. This feature is particularlyvaluable if when a user needs to follow up and converse with a personthey encountered days or weeks ago, but don't necessarily remember theirname contact information, As such, a user can contact these peoplewithout the user necessarily collecting business cards from each ofthese people or even remembering their names.

The second group of people 822, organized under a second heading 820,includes thumbnail photos and associated names of a plurality of “nearbypeople”. The second group of people are therefore currently inproximity, likely within 100 meters, of the user at that moment in time.Each person in the second group of people 822 is represented by athumbnail photo and an associated name.

The screen shot in FIG. 8 further includes a “scan card” button and “newcontact” button. The “scan card” but enables the user's mobile device totake a picture of a business card and extract relevant data which isthen archived. The “new contact” button, when depressed, causes theproximity discovery system to generate and new contact file and populateit which known data acquired automatically via the BLUETOOTH™ connectionor from the photo of the person, for example. In some case, the newcontact file is populated with information and digital photo(s)retrieved from that person's social media page, e.g., their personalFACEBOOK™ page.

FIG. 9 is diagrammatic screen shot illustrating a page enabling a userto integrate social media data into a profile for a contact on theproximity discovery system, in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present invention. The user is prompted with an instruction 910 to“select a profile photo” of a person, e.g., Max Brown, “from the socialmedia profiles below”. The name of the person 920, presently listed asMax Brown, is list together with the various thumbnail photos 930acquired from Max Brown's social media web accounts.

Thereafter, the user selects one of the plurality 920 of photos capturedfrom various social media accounts, and that selected photo becomes theprofile photo associated with the profile in the user's list ofcontacts. After the photo for Max Brown is selected and the profileupdated, the user may return to using the proximity discovery app in themanner discussed herein.

Illustrated in FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of the proximitydiscovery system for the discovery of people in the proximity of theuser and the automatic exchange of information with those people. Theproximity discovery system preferably includes a mobile phone 1000 orother mobile computing device as well as a remote server 1060 with adatabase 1070 of the connections between the various system users.

The mobile phone 1000 preferably includes a transceiver 1010, aplurality of antennas 1012-1014, a digital camera 1040, a user detectionmodule 1020, a proximity detector 1022, a relationship manager 1024, analert generator 1026, an instant messenger application 1028, a displaygenerator 1030 coupled to a display screen 1032, a scheduling module1034, memory 1050 with a list of contacts, and an optical characterrecognition (OCR) module 1042.

The set of antennas includes a BLUETOOTH™ antenna 1012 and WIFI™ antenna1013, and may further include a GPS antenna 1014. The antennas 1012-1013are generally coupled to a transceiver 1010 configured to transmit andreceive signals using applicable protocols know to those skilled in theart. These signals are monitored and processed by the user detectionmodule 1020 to discover other users in the immediate proximity of theuser. Since BLUETOOTH™ signals generally have a range of about 30-100meters, these other users can generally be detected when they are lessthan 100 meters from the mobile phone 1000, although the effectivedistance may be less if there are obstructions in the environment. Asdescribed above, collocated users are affirmatively detected when adiscovery message is transmitted to or received by the mobile phone1000.

Thereafter, the proximity detector 1022 estimates the distance to thecollocated user and the relationship manager 1024 determines whether thesender is a known contact retained in the contacts database 1050 or anew acquaintance. If the contact is a person of interest to the userbased on an alert configured by the user, the alert generator 1026produces an audible or visual notification to make the user aware of thepresence or proximity of this person of interest. If the other user is aknown contact, or becomes a known contact through the proximitydiscovery system, the users may then communicate directly with oneanother via an instant messenger app or social media platform, asdescribed above. Connected users may also use the scheduling module 1034to organize and calendar meetings. In some embodiments, the proximitydetector system enables the user to set a reminder to follow-up with anew contact once connected. When the follow-up reminder occurs, the userreceives a push notification on their mobile device, and an email isautomatically drafted to send to the other user as a follow-up. Usersare able to choose from a number of templated emails for this follow-upemail process. In this way, the entire networking process from meeting,to exchanging information, to following-up is easily completed with theproximity detector system.

Each collocated person detected by the mobile phone 1000 is representedon the proximity graphic (see FIG. 2) produced by the display generator1030 and presented to the user via an LCD display 1032, for example.

In some embodiments, the proximity discovery system further includes andOCR module 1042 configured to scan photos of business cards, extractrelevant information, and automatically compile that biographical andprofessional information in a database of known contacts.

As can be appreciated, the present invention presents a number ofadvantages over the prior art. The proximity discovery system enables auser to discover people that are in the presence of the user, not milesaway, at any given moment in time. And once the users have discoveredeach other, they may share biographical and professional informationwith little to no effort. They may also communicate via social media andschedule meetings with maximum convenience and minimal data entry usingemail, for example. Prior art methods fail to provide this same level oflocalization, speed, or convenience.

The system can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardwareand software elements. In one embodiment, the system is implemented insoftware, which includes but is not limited to firmware, residentsoftware, microcode, etc.

Furthermore, the system can take the form of a computer program productaccessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providingprogram code for use by or in connection with a computer or anyinstruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, acomputer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus thatcan contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program foruse by or in connection with the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium comprise asemiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of opticaldisks comprise compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compactdisk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode comprises at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly tomemory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code isretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards,displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system eitherdirectly or through intervening I/O controllers.

Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the dataprocessing system to become coupled to other data processing systems orremote printers or storage devices through intervening private or publicnetworks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of thecurrently available types of network adapters.

Described above, aspects of the present application are embodied in aWorld Wide Web (“WWW”) or (“Web”) site accessible via the Internet. Asis well known to those skilled in the art, the term “Internet” refers tothe collection of networks and routers that use the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) to communicate with one another.The internet 20 can include a plurality of local area networks (“LANs”)and a wide area network (“WAN”) that are interconnected by routers. Therouters are special purpose computers used to interface one LAN or WANto another. Communication links within the LANs may be wireless, twistedwire pair, coaxial cable, or optical fiber, while communication linksbetween networks may utilize 56 Kbps analog telephone lines, 1 Mbpsdigital T-1 lines, 45 Mbps T-3 lines or other communications links knownto those skilled in the art.

Furthermore, computers and other related electronic devices can beremotely connected to either the LANs or the WAN via a digitalcommunications device, modem and temporary telephone, or a wirelesslink. It will be appreciated that the internet comprises a vast numberof such interconnected networks, computers, and routers.

The Internet has recently seen explosive growth by virtue of its abilityto link computers located throughout the world. As the Internet hasgrown, so has the WWW. As is appreciated by those skilled in the art,the WWW is a vast collection of interconnected or “hypertext” documentswritten in HTML, or other markup languages, that are electronicallystored at or dynamically generated by “WWW sites” or “Web sites”throughout the Internet. Additionally, client-side software programsthat communicate over the Web using the TCP/IP protocol are part of theWWW, such as JAVA® applets, instant messaging, e-mail, browser plug-ins,Macromedia Flash, chat and others. Other interactive hypertextenvironments may include proprietary environments such as those providedin AMERICA ONLINE or other online service providers, as well as the“wireless Web” provided by various wireless networking providers,especially those in the cellular phone industry. It will be appreciatedthat the present application could apply in any such interactivecommunication environments, however, for purposes of discussion, the Webis used as an exemplary interactive hypertext environment with regard tothe present application.

A website is a server/computer connected to the Internet that hasmassive storage capabilities for storing hypertext documents and thatruns administrative software for handling requests for those storedhypertext documents as well as dynamically generating hypertextdocuments. Embedded within a hypertext document are a number ofhyperlinks, i.e., highlighted portions of text which link the documentto another hypertext document possibly stored at a website elsewhere onthe Internet. Each hyperlink is assigned a URL that provides the name ofthe linked document on a server connected to the Internet. Thus,whenever a hypertext document is retrieved from any web server, thedocument is considered retrieved from the World Wide Web. Known to thoseskilled in the art, a web server may also include facilities for storingand transmitting application programs, such as application programswritten in the JAVA® programming language from SUN MICROSYSTEMS, forexecution on a remote computer. Likewise, a web server may also includefacilities for executing scripts and other application programs on theweb server itself.

A remote access user may retrieve hypertext documents from the WorldWide Web via a web browser program. A web browser, such as NETSCAPE'SNAVIGATOR® or MICROSOFT'S INTERNET EXPLORER, is a software applicationprogram for providing a user interface to the WWW. Upon request from theremote access user via the web browser, the web browser requests thedesired hypertext document from the appropriate web server using the URLfor the document and the hypertext transport protocol (“HTTP”). HTTP isa higher-level protocol than TCP/IP and is designed specifically for therequirements of the WWW. HTTP runs on top of TCP/IP to transferhypertext documents and user-supplied form data between server andclient computers. The WWW browser may also retrieve programs from theweb server, such as JAVA applets, for execution on the client computer.Finally, the WWW browser may include optional software components,called plug-ins, that run specialized functionality within the browser.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of theinvention not be limited by this detailed description, but by the claimsand the equivalents to the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A proximity discovery system comprising: a serverfor storing contact data; and a plurality of user devices comprising afirst user device and a second user device; each of the plurality ofuser devices comprising: a) an antenna and transceiver for exchangingdiscovery messages with any one or more of a plurality of mobiledevices; b) a proximity detector for estimating a distance from the userdevice to any one or more of the other plurality of mobile devices; c) auser detection module configured to: i) generate discovery messages forany one or more of the other plurality of mobile devices; and ii) detectthe discovery messages from any one or more of the other plurality ofmobile devices; iii) wherein the discovery messages comprise informationfor identification of a human; d) a connection module configured to: i)transmit a first user profile; and ii) receive a second user profile;iii) wherein the user profile comprises biographic information; and e)an alert generator configured to detect when a person previouslydetermined by a user to be of interest has been detected.
 2. Theproximity discovery system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality ofuser devices further comprises: a camera for capturing a digital imageof a paper business card; and an optical character recognition (OCR)module configured to: a) extract a user name and contact informationfrom the digital image; and b) retrieve a user photo from a social mediawebsite.
 3. The proximity discovery system of claim 2, wherein the alertgenerator is configured to detect the person previously determined bythe user to be of interest within a range of approximately 100 meters ofthe user device.
 4. A proximity discovery system comprising a userdevice and server for storing contact data, the user device comprising:an antenna and transceiver for exchanging discovery messages with anyone or more of a plurality of mobile devices; a user detection modulefor detecting the discovery messages from any one or more of theplurality of mobile devices; a proximity detector for estimating adistance from the user device to any one or more of the plurality ofmobile devices; and a connection module for sharing biographicinformation with any one or more of the plurality of mobile devicesbased on one of a plurality of connection levels; wherein the pluralityof connection levels are based on human social connections.
 5. Theproximity discovery system of claim 4, further comprising: a displaygenerator for generating a proximity graphic comprising: a) a name andimage for one or more persons associated with any one Or more of theplurality of mobile devices nearby the user device; and b) an indiciaindicating the estimate of the distance and relationship from the userdevice to any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.
 6. Theproximity discovery system of claim 5, wherein the discovery messagesare exchanged with any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.7. The proximity discovery system of claim 6, wherein the indiciaindicating the estimate of the distance from the user device to any oneor more of the plurality of mobile devices is selected from the groupconsisting of: (1) an indicia identified as close showing that there isa strong signal strength; (2) an indicia identified as near showing thatthere is an intermediate signal strength; and (3) an indicia identifiedas far showing that there is a weak signal strength.
 8. The proximitydiscovery system of claim 7, further comprising: an alert generatorconfigured to detect when a person of interest pre-determine by a userhas been detected nearby the user device, and configured for alertingthe user of the proximity of that person of interest.
 9. The proximitydiscovery system of claim 8, further comprising: a scheduling moduleconfigured to exchange messages with any one or more of the plurality ofmobile devices, and configured for generating a time and location forone or more meetings.
 10. The proximity discovery system of claim 9,further comprising: a messenger module configured to transmit instantmessages to any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices nearbythe user device, and to receive instant messages from any one or more ofthe plurality of mobile devices nearby the user device.
 11. Theproximity discovery system of claim 10, further comprising: an opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) module configured to process and extractname and professional data from digital images of business cards.
 12. Amethod of discovering a plurality of mobile devices in proximity of auser with a user device, the method comprising: transmitting a firstdiscovery message to any one or more of a plurality of mobile devices;receiving a second discovery message from any one or more of a from aplurality of mobile devices; estimating a distance from the user deviceto any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices; exchanginginformation with any one or more of the plurality of mobile devicesbased on one of a plurality of connection levels; exchanging meetingmessages with any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices; andgenerating a time and location for one or more meetings; wherein theconnection levels are based on human social connections.
 13. The methodof discovering a plurality of mobile devices of claim 12, furthercomprising: generating a proximity graphic comprising: a) a name andimage for each person associated with any one or more of the pluralityof mobile devices within approximately 100 meters of the user device;and b) indicia indicating the estimate of the distance from the userdevice to any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.
 14. Thenmethod of discovering a plurality of mobile devices of claim 12, whereinthe indicia indicating the estimate of the distance from the user deviceto any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices is selected fromthe group consisting of: (1) an indicia identified as close showing thatthere is a strong signal strength; (2) an indicia identified as nearshowing that there is an intermediate signal strength; and (3) anindicia identified as far showing that there is a weak signal strength.15. The method of discovering a plurality of mobile devices of claim 12,further comprising: detecting a person of interest pre-determined by auser nearby the user device; and alerting the user proximity of thatperson of interest.
 16. The method of discovering a plurality of mobiledevices of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting instant messagesto any one or more of the plurality of mobile devices nearby the userdevice; and receiving instant messages from any one or more of theplurality of mobile devices nearby the user device.
 17. The method ofdiscovering a plurality of mobile devices of claim 12, furthercomprising: processing and extracting a name and professional data fromdigital images of business cards using optical character recognition(OCR).